The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it may be described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present technology.
Partially-automated or monitored driving systems are designed to assist drivers in operating a vehicle safely and efficiently on the road. For example, they may use techniques such as eye-tracking of the driver to send a warning when the driver becomes inattentive, lane tracking of the vehicle to send a warning to the driver when the vehicle is leaving its lane, and controlling vehicle velocity based on distance to a vehicle ahead of the driver when adaptive cruise control is activated by the driver.
Fully or highly automated driving systems are preferably designed to operate a vehicle on a road without driver interaction or other external control, for example, in self-driving or autonomous vehicles. Advanced driver safety systems may monitor the situation of a vehicle, including its location, as well as a location of other vehicles in its vicinity. However, fully automated driving systems are not currently designed to notify the driver of upcoming vehicle operations in order to prepare the driver in terms of what to expect from the automated driving system's control of the vehicle
While certain systems may provide haptic feedback in the form of a vibrating steering wheel, textual warnings within the interior of a vehicle, or audible warnings requesting attention from the driver, such warnings may, in fact, be insufficient to alert the driver. Still further, certain warnings may be overbearing or distracting to the point of causing alarm on the part of the driver.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved and reliable warning means to gain the attention of a driver of an autonomous vehicle when the need arises for the manual control of the vehicle or for another action that needs input from the driver.